My herbalist recommended I make this soup given the recent change of temperature and humidity. She actually only provides the “dried goodies” – see below – in terms of herbs. She will tell you that you additionally need a pork shank and chayotes to complete the soup. This soup is targeted to help reduce wetness in the body and aid with the dampness that comes with Spring in Hong Kong. It’s slightly sweet to taste, and surprisingly, my children drank it all!

Ingredients

• 1 pound of fresh pork shank, cut and blanched
• 1 whole fresh lily bulb
• 1 tablespoon of dried lotus seeds
• 3 fresh chayotes
• 1 tablespoon of apricot kernals
• 10 dried dates (or dried longans can substitute)
• 5 dried figs
• 1 tablespoon of dried fu ling or tuckahoe
• 3 L of water

Cooking Instructions

1. Start boiling your soup water and immediately (while the water is still cold) throw in all the dried herbs (figs, honey dates, apricot kernals, lily bulbs, lotus seeds)
   2. In a separate pot, blanch the pork shank for 5 minutes, drain and set aside
   3. Once the water boils, add in cubed chayotes (with the skin on so it won’t completely disintegrate in the soup) and pork shank
   4. Boil on high for 30 minutes
   5. Reduce to a medium boil for another 1.5 hours (or put it in a thermal pot)
   6. Salt to salt
   7. Serve and enjoy!